Hi there,
You're welcome to the first of the balance breathing practices for the program.
This is a practice which is targeted as the name suggests at balancing the nervous system so that you have that nice balance between the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system.
A little bit as I use the analogy like the dancer or the martial arts expert balanced evenly on the balls of both feet,
Giving them the ability to react to whatever happens to come up.
So this is about balancing your nervous system so that you can bring the best of both the parasympathetic and the sympathetic to your experience of the moment.
And it is the state in which you would most likely experience what's often referred to as flow mode.
So that sense that you're really on your on your best game,
Really tuned in,
Really bringing the best version of yourself to the moment.
The first practice is one that you may have heard of before.
It's called box breathing.
I have a small variation in there.
But essentially,
If you've heard of box breathing before,
You'll be familiar,
Likely as not,
With box breathing around the four count.
So an inhale of four,
A hold of four,
An exhale of four,
And a hold at the end of the exhale of four,
Repeating again and again.
The slight variation that I have in there is in the second set of 10 in the recording today,
I'm going to go from 4444 to 5555.
And then on the third set,
I'll go from 5555 to 6666.
If at any stage,
You find the fives or sixes just too much,
You're uncomfortable,
Or they're just not working for you.
Well then I suggest just stop the recording and continue with the 4444 approach.
If you happen to be familiar with ocean or whisper breath,
Well then feel free to use that during this practice as well.
It's very,
Very apt and very appropriate to this practice.
So as we get ready to go into the practice,
Let me suggest to you that you just briefly close your eyes and drop into yourself and do a quick head,
Heart and gut check in.
So what's going on with your head right now?
Are your thoughts nice and relaxed and cool and chilled?
Or are they all over the place?
What's going on with your heart?
What sort of emotions are coming up?
What sort of emotional state are you in?
And what's going on with your physiology,
With your gut?
Are you tightened up or you're loose and relaxed?
So just take a few moments just to tune in as I go silent,
To tune into what's going on with you right now.
And the reasoning behind this,
As I mentioned in previous practices,
Is the more you notice the state before you start the practice,
The more you can determine the effect that that practice is having upon your state,
Which gives you more control in the future over how to adapt those practices to fit your particular nervous system,
Your particular physiology.
So let me stop for 30 seconds and just drop into yourself and just check in head,
Heart and gut.
What sort of state are you in right now?
Okay,
So let's prepare.
So we're going to begin,
As I said,
With a 4-4-4 pattern.
So just notice what rate are you breathing at right now?
I'm not going to suggest that you speed it up or slow it down,
But just tap in gently into the rate that you're breathing at right now,
Starting with an inhale of four.
So in for 1-2-3-4,
Hold,
2-3-4,
Exhale,
3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4.
Inhale 2-3-4,
Hold,
2-3-4,
Exhale,
3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4.
Inhale 2-3-4,
Hold,
2-3-4,
Exhale,
3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4.
Inhale 2-3-4,
Hold,
2-3-4,
Exhale,
3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4.
Inhale 2-3-4,
Hold,
2-3-4,
Exhale,
3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4.
Inhale 2-3-4,
Hold,
2-3-4,
Exhale,
3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4.
Inhale 2-3-4,
Hold,
2-3-4,
Exhale,
3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4.
Inhale 2-3-4,
Hold,
2-3-4,
Exhale,
3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4.
Inhale 2-3-4,
Hold,
2-3-4,
Exhale,
3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4.
Inhale 2-3-4,
Hold,
2-3-4,
Exhale,
3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4.
Inhale 2-3-4,
Hold,
2-3-4,
Exhale,
3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4.
Inhale 2-3-4-5,
Hold,
2-3-4-5,
Exhale,
4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5.
Inhale 2-3-4-5,
Hold,
2-3-4-5,
Exhale,
4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5.
Inhale 2-3-4-5,
Hold,
2-3-4-5,
Exhale,
4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5.
Inhale 2-3-4-5,
Hold,
2-3-4-5,
Exhale,
4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5.
Inhale 2-3-4-5,
Hold,
2-3-4-5,
Exhale,
4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5.
Inhale 2-3-4-5,
Hold,
2-3-4-5,
Exhale,
4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5.
Inhale 2-3-4-5,
Hold,
2-3-4-5,
Exhale,
4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5.
Inhale 2-3-4-5,
Hold,
2-3-4-5,
Exhale,
4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5.
Inhale 2-3-4-5,
Hold,
2-3-4-5,
Exhale,
4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5.
Inhale 2-3-4-5,
Hold,
2-3-4-5,
Exhale,
4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5.
Inhale 2-3-4-5-6,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6,
Exhale,
5-4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6.
Inhale 2-3-4-5-6,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6,
Exhale,
5-4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6.
Inhale 2-3-4-5-6,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6,
Exhale,
5-4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6.
Inhale 2-3-4-5-6,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6,
Exhale,
5-4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6.
Inhale 2-3-4-5-6,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6,
Exhale,
5-4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6.
Inhale 2-3-4-5-6,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6,
Exhale,
5-4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6.
Inhale 2-3-4-5-6,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6,
Exhale,
5-4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6.
Inhale 2-3-4-5-6,
Hold,
2-3-4-5-6,
Exhale,
5-4-3-2-1,
Hold,
2-3-4-5.
Allowing your breath to return to normal,
Allowing you to relax into a normal rhythm.
Close your eyes and just drop into yourself.
And again,
Do the head,
Heart and gut check in.
Where are your thoughts at?
Are they settled or are they flying?
Where is your heart at?
What emotions are you feeling?
What emotions are arising for you?
And what's your physiology like?
Checking into your gut,
Are you tight,
Are you loose,
Are you relaxed,
Are you tense?
And just checking in and seeing how does it compare with before the practice.
What impact,
If any,
Did the practice actually have upon you?
This is a key part of these practices is understanding the impact that each of them has on our particular physiology,
Because each one of us is just a little bit different.
So that was the box breathing,
The first of our balanced breathing practices with that small variation.
As I said before,
If you feel more comfortable just with the count of four,
Stick with the count of four.
But there is some research to suggest that the ability to expand the size of your box going from four to five to six has some correlation to the ability to be able to generate that flow state.
So that was our first balanced breathing practice.
